Chapter 187: Republic of China: Starting from the First Class of Whampoa, Chapter 187: Hold the Meeting Immediately!

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Protagonist:

Lv Muzhi

Hu Gongnan's phone call was transferred several times before finally reaching the Principal.

After indulging himself once in Shanghai last time, the Principal had returned to Jinling.

As soon as the call connected, Hu Gongnan spoke urgently into the receiver: "Principal! Student Hu Gongnan risks death to petition: Yangxing Town cannot be held like this any longer! The devils' naval guns are utterly unreasonable—they're treating Yangxing Town as a target range! If this continues, our First Army will be wiped out completely; leave some seed for the First Army!"

From the other end came the Principal's serious accented voice: "Shou Shan, I know your difficulties! But you must understand, the Nine-Power Treaty Conference is imminent, and the international community is watching us!

Every extra day we hold out here, every extra bit of determination to resist we show, the hope for international mediation grows that much greater! To retreat now—wouldn't that render all previous efforts void? How would the nations of the world view the will to resist of our Xia Guo soldiers?! Soldiers cannot fear death; they must be prepared to sacrifice!"

Hu Gongnan nearly burst into tears: "The First Army doesn't fear death, but dying like this is pointless! Wei Yue's strategy is sound—avoid the enemy's naval gunfire, stretch their supply lines, prepare positions in the rear to wait at ease for the weary, and only then can we inflict heavy casualties on the Wang Jingwei Regime's fighting strength. We cannot exhaust our elite troops here!"

"I understand all the reasoning, but waiting at ease is for later; what we must do now is show spirit, show dignity!

If the Nine-Power Treaty Conference could directly make the Wang Jingwei Regime stop its aggression, wouldn't that be far better than Wei Yue's method of blocking them step by step? You're not seeing far enough—you can't catch the wolf without letting go of the child!"

"Gongnan, you are a student I trust, and the First Army is a model unit; you must hold out! Let the whole world see our Xia Guo Army's determination to yield not an inch of land! Execute the order!"

"Principal!..." Hu Gongnan wanted to argue further, but hearing complete silence from the other end, he knew further words were useless.

Almost at the same moment Hu Gongnan hung up, Left Wing Army Commander-in-Chief Chen Cheng's call was also connected directly to the Principal.

"Hello! Who is this!"

"Principal! I am Chen Cheng!"

"What is it?"

"In the Luodian direction, the Japanese army's combined land, sea, and air assault has continued for several days, with firepower unprecedented! My troops have suffered extremely heavy casualties; within three days, two divisions have been crippled and lost their combat effectiveness! The officers and men are filling the gap with their lives! Under the devils' naval gunfire coverage, how can flesh and blood hold out for long? May we, as appropriate, withdraw and fall back to the Wunaozham line?"

The Principal's voice was equally stern: "Cixiu! Have you become muddled too? We cannot let the Wang Jingwei Regime advance so easily; Luodian is crucial—we can retreat, but we must make the Wang Jingwei Regime pay an enormous price;

and the Nine-Power Treaty Conference is about to convene; every minute we hold out here is winning international sympathy and support for our country! This is not just military—it is political! It is diplomatic!"

Chen Cheng argued his case: "Principal! The Wang Jingwei Regime has already paid an enormous price over the past month and more; we can retreat moderately now;

Your subordinate also understands the importance of international opinion! But if our troops are wiped out, what will we have left to negotiate with..."

"Don't mention it again!" The Principal interrupted him: "This kind of thinking is too negative—wouldn't that make those who oppose me laugh?!

Cixiu, you are my right and left arms; the Left Wing Army absolutely cannot retreat! I have already ordered Gui Yongqing's Central Training Corps to rush to reinforce your unit at top speed; they are equipped with German equipment, well-trained, and are my elite troops!

Also, Liu Xiang's Sichuan Army will arrive at the Songhu Battlefield; reinforcements are arriving immediately—you must hold on! Hold Luodian at all costs! That is an order!"

Chen Cheng slowly put down the phone, his face full of weariness and helplessness.

Luo Zhuoying and Xue Yue at his side saw Chen Cheng's expression and knew the result was not good.

Chen Cheng shook his head helplessly: "The Principal has already sent additional reinforcements into Shanghai."

Luo Zhuoying said: "This isn't a matter of lacking reinforcements. Under current circumstances, although we've lost several divisions, our manpower isn't yet critically strained—but for a place like Luodian, even ten divisions would eventually be wiped out."

Xue Yue nodded, wanting to say something, but in the end said nothing; the superiors' resolve would not change, and whatever he said would be useless.

Chen Cheng and the others were anxiously scratching their heads when the stretcher team carried Huang Wei in.

"What's going on?!" Luo Zhuoying, seeing Huang Wei—a division commander—actually injured, was very dissatisfied.

The soldiers carrying the stretcher explained: "Division Commander Huang was shaken by a shell while commanding his troops in changing positions."

Huang Wei sat up from the stretcher: "I'm fine, just a scraped skin; the military doctor insisted I lie on the stretcher. Gentlemen, what is to be done now?!"

Huang Wei seemed very urgent. His Sixty-Seventh Division had been relieved by friendly troops; he had seen clearly what Luodian was like—after so long under bombardment, the trenches were nearly leveled, and sending in a division meant losing a division.

Everyone listened to Huang Wei's words in silence, which made Huang Wei even more anxious. He said tentatively: "In my opinion, we should fall back a bit?"

"Carry him down!" Chen Cheng waved his hand, ordering the soldiers to carry Huang Wei away on the stretcher, then said: "This tactic of adding troops can wait for now; our Third War Zone must hold a meeting immediately. I ask Deputy Commander-in-Chief Gu Zhutong to convene the war zone meeting as soon as possible—oh no, go directly to Lv Wei Yue's place for the meeting!"

At the Nanxiang Youth Army Headquarters, Lv Muzhi received a notification from Deputy Commander-in-Chief Gu Zhutong of the Third War Zone Command, requesting to borrow his venue for a meeting.

Qiu Qingquan was completely baffled: "What medicine is being sold in that gourd?"

Lv Muzhi, arms crossed, looked at the map: "Where is there medicine? They've come to beg for medicine."

Qiu Qingquan was very curious: "Commander Lu, do you have medicine to solve this crisis?"

"I don't. Did the telegram say anything about inviting Right Wing Army Commander Zhang Fakui to the meeting?"

Qiu Qingquan said: "It doesn't seem so. Commander Zhang is too far away; I'm afraid he won't make it in time."

Lv Muzhi called a staff officer: "Please ask Commander Zhang Fakui to definitely come to the meeting, and quickly."

The two stood on the headquarters parade ground and saw several people approaching in the distance; the leader turned out to be Major General Regimental Commander Du Yuming of the Armored Corps, who had come early to wait for the meeting and catch up on old times.

Du Yuming walked up to Lv Muzhi and Qiu Qingquan, shook hands, and said: "Brother Wei Yue, long time no see!"

Lv Muzhi patted Du Yuming's shoulder and asked: "How is that tank destroyer company I lent you earlier? Easy to use?"

Du Yuming smiled: "Very useful; destroyed several of the devils' tanks."

Qiu Qingquan joked: "Guangting, those are Commander Wei Yue's treasures—how many are left? If one is missing, you'll have to pay full price!"

"Don't worry; at Luodian I mostly coordinated the defense, and I used those tank destroyers mostly as mobile gun platforms; so far none have been damaged."

Du Yuming said, his eyes scanning the several 38T-converted anti-aircraft tanks on the parade ground, with some envy in his eyes—these were far better than the Vickers and Type 1 tanks he was equipped with.

If not for the tank destroyer company Lv Muzhi had lent him earlier, Du Yuming's tanks facing the devils' Type 89 medium tanks would still be very dangerous.

"Guangting has arrived..." Hu Gongnan walked into Lv Muzhi's headquarters gate with a haggard face, calling out from behind—obviously he had been tormented for a long time without sleep.